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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

A. T. L. DAVIS. STOPPING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES, 650. NO. 457,307. Patented Aug. 4, 1891.

lv'vbmcooc o, I I Q Z; atto'mnm (No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. T. L. DAVIS.

STOPPING MEGHANISM FOR KNITTING MACHINES, 650. No. 457,307. Patented Aug. 4.1891.

i 7 G E I nnmm 0 IIEWIUH S v IIIIIII (No Model.) 3 Shets-Sheet a.

A. T. L. DAVIS. STOPPING MECHANISM FOR-KNITTING MACHINES, &0. No. 457,307. Patented Aug. 4, 1891.

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avwem-koz wilmaaoca "1 v I I fitter/"e13 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

ALBERT T. L. DAVIS, OF LAKE VILLAGE, NEIV HAMPSHIRE, ASSIGNOR TO THE PEPPER MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF'SAME PLACE.

STOPPING MECHANISM FOR KNITTING-MACHINES, 80c.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 457,307, dated August 4., 1891.

Application filed August 6, 1890. Serial No. 361,160. (No model.) i

To aZZ whom it may concern: chain having projecting cams or tappets, Be it known that I, ALBERT T. L. DAVIS, of which when brought to a given position set Lake Village, in the county of Belknap and ,in operation the belt-shifting mechanisms.

State of New Hampshire, have invented cer- \Vhile the improvements are applicable to 5 tain new and useful Improvements in Stopdifferent mechanisms wherein it may be deping Mechanism for Knitting-Machines, &c., sired to stop the machine automaticallyoa of which the following is a specification. the completion of a given amount of work,

In many classes of machinery it is desirable they will be described in detail in connection to stop the machine automatically when it has with a knitting-machine of the type already I0 completed a given amount of work. For eXamreferred to. Such a machine is shown in. the ple, in circular-knitting machines for knitting accompanying drawings, whereinp stockings itis customaryto run the machine by Figure 1 is a side view of the machine with power while the circular web constituting the the present improvements applied thereto. leg and ankle of the stocking is being formed, I Fig. 2 is a'horizontal section on a plane indit5 and as soon as this portion of the stocking is cated by the line2 2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vercompleted the machine is stopped, certain of tical section in a plane indicated by the line the needles are thrown out of action, and the 3 3 in Fig. 2. Fig. 4: is a vertical section in a foot is completed by operating the machine plane indicated by the line4 din Fig. 2, show back and forth by hand. In such machines 'ing the parts in their normal positions. Fig.

2o uniform lengths are essential to .the stock- 5 is a similar View showing the parts in the ings, and consequently it is essential to the position which they assume after the motion proper operation of the machine that it should of 'the machine has been stopped. Fig. 6 is a be automatically stopped when the leg and detail sectional view along the mainv driveankle are completed. Prior to the present shaft. I i

25 invention automaticallyacting stop-motion A is the head of an ordinary circular-knitdevices have been provided for this purpose. ting machine, and B is the drive-shaft there- For example, a wellknown stopping device of, carrying a fast pulley a and a loose pulconsists in a weight, which is fastened to the ley b, with which a drive-belt C co-operates. web that is being knit, and when a proper The shaft is also provided with ahand-crank 30 length has been knit the weight, descending D for operating the machine while doing as the web lengthens, strikes a stop, which back -and forth knitting, as in footing the sets in operation the belt-shifting mechanism. stocking. This device is open to objection in that it is The head of the machine is bolted to asuitdifficult without the exercise of great care to able metallic supporting-standard E. Se- 8 always secure the weight to the same relacured to the standard E is a downward1y-' tive position on the diiferent webs, anddifprojecting forked bracket F, having at its ferent webs stretch to varying lengths under lower ends guidesleeves c d, in which slides the strain of the weight. a horizontally reciprocating shipper-bar G.

Now the present improvements relate to a This bar carries at one end exterior to the 4o mechanism for setting in operation the usual sleeve 11 a belt-shipper fork H, which issebelt-shifting mechanism with which knitting cured to the bar G. This fork extends horir and other machines are commonly supplied. zontally beneath the fast and loose pulleys a The object of the invention is to supply a del), and through it the drive-belt 0 extends. Vice' which shall act with uniformity and pre- The shipper-fork is held in position toco-op- 15 a 5 cision to set the belt-shifting mechanism in crate with the fast pulley a by meansof a. .I

operation at exactly the proper intervals. shipper-lever I, which is pivotally connected This object is secured by the employment of to the sleeve 0, so as to swing in a vertical a traveling pattern-chain, which is actuated plane, and a link J, which is pivotally conby the machine, so that its speed of travel nected atopposite ends to the lever Iand the oo 50 bears a definite fixed relation or proportion bar G, respectively, said link also swinging; to the speed of the machine, said patternin avertical plane. \Vhen the bar G is in being slightly above a center line drawn from the pivotal point between thelever and sleeve 0 to the pivotal point between the link and the bar 6%.. \Vhen in this normal position, the outer handle end of the shipper-lever can only be swung upward, any suitable stop (such as a knuckle-joint k between the lever and ,link J) preventing its downward movement, and it is held from accidentally moving upward by reason of its described connection with the link J.

In order to ship the shipper-fork so as to carry the drive-belt from the fast to the loose'.

pulley and so stop the machine, it is only necessary to swing the free end of the shipper-lever I up just far enough to bring the pivotal point between the lever and the link J below the center line, the movement of the shipper-bar G and the fork I-I being then antomatically effected by a coiled spring K, which encircles the bar G between the sleeves c d, and which bears at opposite ends against the inner face of sleeve 01 and against a pin 6, extending through the bar G. The movement of the shipper-fork in the opposite direction is effected by the manipulation of the shipper-lever I. It will thus be noted that the lever I and link J constitute a locking mechanism for holding the several parts in their normal positions. 7

The belt-shifting mechanism as thus described is all old and well-known, and constitutes no part of the present invention except in so far as it enters into combination and cooperates with the improvements constituting the essential features of the present invention. The mechanism as described is merely introduced as beinga suitable and convenient beltshipping or beltshifting mechanism with which the present improvements may be employed.

Adjacent to the bracket F there is secured to the standard E a second downwardly-extendingforkedbracketL,in the lower ends of which is journaled a horizontal shaft M, parallel with the main shaft B and the bar G, the bar G being between the main shaft B and the shaft M. On its end adjacent to the shipperfork the shaft M carries a ratchet-wheel N, and on its opposite end,.adjacent to the free end of the shipper-lever, it carries a sprocket-wheel O. The ratchet-wheel is rotated by means of a co-operating gravity-pawl P, the inner end of which is formed with a circular aperture or strap R, which encircles an eccentric Q on the drive-shaft B. The throw of the eccentric Q thus determines the rate of rotation of the ratchet-wheel and its shaft M, so that there is a definite and fixed relation or proportion between the speed of the knitting mechanism and that of shaft M.

" shipper-lever I.

edge of the shipper-lever;

.The ratchet-wheel is held from backward movement, or from forward movement due to momentum, by a spring-brake f, which bears against its inner face. The sprocket-wheel O, at the other end of shaft M, carries a sprocket or pattern chain S of any desired length and having at properly disposed intervals any desired number of outwardly-projecting cams or tappets T. This pattern-chain,

as shown in the drawings, travels in a vertical plane perpendicular to the vertical plane in which the shipper-lever I swings, and the path of the pattern-chain is adjacent to the free end of the shipper-lever.

Pivoted at its upper end to a project-ion on the bracket L is a swinging downwardlyhanging dog U, the lower end of which occu-- pies a position between the pattern-chain and the shipper-lever. This dog swings in a vertical plane parallel to that in which the pattern-chain travels, and consequently perpendicular to that in which the shipper-lever swings. The free lower end of the dogis provided with two oppositely-projecting cams g h, the cam g projecting toward the patternchain and the cam h projecting toward the The cam g is normally out of contact with the pattern-chain. Since the adjacent portion of the pattern-chain travels upwardly, (in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 1,) the lower inclined cam-face m of the cam g is in the path of the cams or tappetsT on the pattern-chain. Consequently, when in the rotation of the shaftM one of the tappets T encounters the inclined cam-face m of cam g, it forces the cam g and the lower end of the dog U away from the pattern-chain and toward the shipper-lever. Now in the normal position of the parts the lowest and outermost point of the upper inclined cam-face n of the cam h is located just below the lower.

\Vhen, however, the lower end of the dog is swung out by one of the tappets T,'the inclined cam-face a, coming in contact with the shipper-lever I, forces the same upward- The extent of the movement of the dog U is sufficient to force the shipper-lever I far enough to unlock the same and to release the spring K, which effects the shipping of the belt to the loose pulley 1), thereby stopping the machine. the machine has been thus stopped certain of the knitting-needles are thrown out of action in the usual well-known manner, and

i then the foot of the stocking is completed by back-and-forth knitting, the machinebeing operated by the hand-crank D. \Vhen themachine is thus being operated by hand, there is no necessity for operating the pattern-chain S, and accordingly to avoid'the.

work of operating it means are employed for w automatically throwing and holding the gravity-pawl P out of action. For this purpose a pawl-lifting arm W is secured to the link J,

which is normally located beneath the pawl P and out of contact with it. WVhen, how- I ever, in the operation of shipping the belt the IIO After link J is swung downward and retracted, the lifting-arm W is moved upward into contact with the pawl P, lifting the-latter out of cooperation with the ratchet-wheel N and holding it in its inoperative position as long as the driving-belt runs on the loose pulley.

Accordingly the shaft M and the parts cartern-chain can be set for each knitting operation. The pattern-chain can be made of any length and provided with any number of tappets disposed at any desired intervals, so that ditferent lengths of web may be knit.

\Vhen it is desired to run the machine again by the drive-belt, the parts are restored to their normal positions by depressing by hand the free end of the shipper-lever I.

It will be evident that the pattern-chain and its operating adjuncts can be applied to any machine provided with a belt-shipping mechanism wherein the automatic stopping of the machine after the completion of predetermined amounts of work is desired.

I claim as my invention V 1. A belt-shifting mechanism and a traveling pattern-chain having cams or tappets thereon, in combination with a swinging dog between said chain and a movable operating part of saidbelt-shifting mechanism, said dog being acted upon by said cams or tappets and said dog in its turn acting upon said movable operating part of said belt-shiftin g mechanism, substantially as set forth.

2. The lever I and a traveling patternchain having cams or tappets thereon, in combination with a swinging dog between said chain and said lever, said dog being acted upon by said cams or tappets and said dog in its turn acting upon said lever, substantially as set forth.

3. The lever I, and a traveling patternchain having cams or tappets thereon, in combination with a swinging dog between said chain and said lever, said dog having cam g in the path of said tappets, whereby said tappets swing said dog toward said lever, and having cam h, which acts upon said lever, substantially as set forth.

4. The lever I and a traveling patternchain having cams or tappets thereon, in combination with dog U, having a gage-stop 0 in the path of .said cams or tappets, substantially as set forth.

5. The belt-shifting mechanism of a machine, a ratchet-wheel which controls the operation of said belt-shiftin g mechanism, mechanism between said ratchet-wheel and said turns, a swinglng belt-shifting mechanism, and a pawl which actuates said ratchet-wheel, in combination with a lifting-arm, the movement of which is controlled by the action of said belt-shifting mechanism, said lifting-arm acting (when said belt-shifting mechanism operates to stop the machine) to throw said pawl out of engagement with said ratchet-wheel, substantiall y asset forth.

6. The drive-shaft of a machine, fast and loose pulleys thereon, a drive-belt which runs on said pulleys, a sliding shipper-rod, a ship per-fork carried by said shipper-rod, said fork embracing said belt, a spring which acts on said shipper-rod to move the same in a direction to stop the machine, a locking mechanism for holding said shipper-rod in position with the drive-belt running on the fast pulley, said locking mechanism consistsupport, so as to swing in a vertical plane, and a link pivotally connected at opposite ends to said shipper-lever and said shipperrod, respectively, in combination with ashaft ing of a shipping-lever pivoted to a fixed carrying a sprocket-wheel and a ratchet- Wheel, an eccentric on said drive -shaft, a gravity-pawl actuated by said drive-shaft and engaging said ratchet-wheel, a patternchain carried by said sprocket-Wheel, said pattern-chain having a plurality of cams or tappets disposed thereon and said patternchain traveling in a vertical plane perpendicular to the vertical plane in which said shipper-lever turns, and a swinging dog, the lower free end of which is located between said pattern-chain and said shipper-lever, said dog having two cams on its free end, one cam being located in the path'of the cams or tappets on the pattern-chain and the other cam adapted to engage said shippinglever to turn the same on its pivot, substantially as set forth.

7. The drive-shaft of a machine, fast and I IIO loose pulleys thereon,a drive-belt which runs on said pulleys, a sliding shipper-rod, ashipper-fork carried by said shipper-rod, said fork embracing said belt, a spring which acts pulley, said locking mechanism consisting of ashipping-lever pivoted to a fixed support, so as to swing in a vertical plane, and a link pivotally connected at opposite ends to said shipper-lever and said shipper-rod, respectively, in combination with a shaft carrying a sprocket-wheel and a ratchet-wheel, an eccentric on said drive-shaft, a gravity-pawl actuated by said drive-shaft and engaging said ratchet-wheel, a pattern-chain carried tion Withthe drive-belt running on the fast by said sprocket-wheel, said pattern-chain having a plurality of cams or tappets disposed thereon and said pattern-chain traveling in a vertical plane perpendicular to the vertical'plane in which said shipper-lever dog, the'lower free end of which is located between said pattern-chain wheel on the stopping of the machine, suband said shipper-lever, said dog having two stantially as set forth. cams on its free end, one cam being located In witness whereof I have hereunto signed in the path of the cams or tappets on the patmy name in the presence of two subscribing 5 tern-chain and the other cam adapted to enwitnesses. gage said shipping-lever to turn the same on 1 y its pivot, and a pawl-lifting arm carried by ALBEI DAVIS said link, said arm being normally located \Vitnesses: beneath said pawl but arranged to lift said V HENRY B. QUINBY,

1o pawl out of engagement with said ratchet- A. C. MOORE. 

